1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of laboratory equipment, and more particularly to arrays of disposable pipette tips for pipetting systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In chemical, biological, pharmaceutical, and similar fields, laboratory handling of very small quantities of fluids is commonly performed with pipettes. In many instances, automated pipetting systems allow multiple fluid samples to be handled rapidly and in parallel while maintaining a very high degree of precision over the sample quantities. Often, such automated pipetting systems employ disposable pipette tips to prevent contamination from one sample to the next. Typically, pipette tips are provided to an automated pipetting system in a pipette tip rack or grid. In the pipette tip grid, the tips are typically arranged in rows where the number of tips in a row is equal to the number of parallel pipettes in the automated pipetting system. Accordingly, the automated pipetting system can readily pick up a row or multiple rows of tips from the grid.
It will be appreciated that disposable pipette tips need to be kept free of contamination to be acceptable for most applications. Accordingly, grids are packaged for shipping, handling, and storage. FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art pipette tip grid 100 supported within a protective box 102. The box 102 includes a hinged lid 104 that pivots to open and close. As can be seen from FIG. 2, locking tabs 106 attached to the grid 100 secure the grid 100 within the box 102. To release the grid 100 from the box 102, the locking tabs 106 are depressed and then the grid 100 can be removed. As shown in FIG. 3, when the lid 104 is closed the locking tabs 106 are also covered. Accordingly, to take the grid 100 out of the case 102 requires opening the lid 104 which exposes tops of pipette tips 108 to contamination.
As can be seen from FIG. 4, the grids 100 of the prior art can be stacked. When stacked, the pipette tips 108 in one grid 100 nest in the pipette tips 108 of the grid 100 beneath. Unfortunately, the lid 104 will not close over a stack of grids 100, and therefore the lid 104 is preferably removed, as shown. It can be seen that the tops of the pipette tips 108 are exposed, as are the sides of the pipette tips 108.
Accordingly, what is needed is improved packaging for pipette tips.